Tag: Yahweh

Former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt is famous for the phrase, “walk softly, and carry a big stick”. It’s that idea of unarguable authority, and conveys the message that it would be in the opposing party’s best interest to rethink their own intentions before proceeding further.

Which is something I see clearly in Judah’s good King Hezekiah and his encounter with the big political enemy of his day, Assyria. It’s important to note that, in the middle of a longstanding family history of spiritual genocide, Hezekiah opts to follow God instead. This decision, however, doesn’t exclude him (and his people) from the problems of the day, one of the biggest being the bully, King Sennacherib.Continue reading “Big Stick Faith”

In the mass hysteria that is the superhero-universe phenom, here are a couple of guys that are somewhat overlooked:

Credit: Newsweek/google images

Give it time. Hollywood will find a way.

The other kind of hornet is more real in my personal experience as a school nurse, however. One of the custodians in my school building was called to go kill a wasp or two flying around inside the building one the second day of school because there were a couple of kiddos registered as “allergic”. (SOOOooo glad the teachers read my notes to them—thank you and I love you!!)

Cultural differences aside, Old Testament prophets were, um…a little weird. I say that respectfully, but I can only imagine they may not have been at the top of an invitation list to any aspiring social event. Things like walking around naked, burying underwear in the dirt (and retrieving it some time later!), marrying a prostitute, and a list of the bizarre continues—it certainly caught the people’s attention.

Don’t you think it’s about time for these guys to start finding their own food?? I don’t think mom and dad are going to be able to keep sustaining them (and themselves) much longer, and they’re outgrowing the nest by more than a bit. Dependence is a comfortable thing, however, and self-sufficiency is hard work, and somewhat dangerous at times. Just look at what happened to the Israelites during the prophet Samuel’s time—

Backstory: because of the enemy occupation, there were no blacksmiths allowed in Israel. To sharpen anything, God’s (wayward) people had to go the non-Israelite smithies to simply file an axe or other daily implements. (As if my kitchen knives weren’t dull enough…) This was a really smart ploy of the enemy—they were basically in control of the weaponry, which decidedly put the people of Yahweh at an uncomfortable disadvantage.

“So on the day of the battle none of the people of Israel had a sword or spear, except for Saul and Jonathan.”

Unfortunately, our Enemy employs the same tactic today when I allow myself to become dependent on church leadership and the pastoral staff/worship team/Sunday school teachers for my personal spiritual sustenance and the responsibility I have for the effect of the Gospel in my family and community.

Okay, that was a run-on sentence, and back in high school my comp teacher, Mrs. Rose, used to give my red ink for that. So I’ll break it down.

Point #1: Any church philosophy that encourages the people to become solely dependent on the leadership team is from the enemy camp.

When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world? After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News.

Point #2: Church leadership is not to keep us in the nest, but to prepare us to fly on our own. That doesn’t preclude church affiliation (mustn’t take the analogy too far) as it is obvious God expects us to keep up our teamwork and fellowship. There is, however, a specific call for the church to BE the church, not merely GO to church.

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”

Even “dumb animals” like robins know when it’s time to grow up and feed themselves.

The Babylonians knew how to party; in fact, I get the impression they didn’t do anything halfway.

King Nebuchadnezzar was pretty full of himself despite being warned in a dream, interpreted by the captive Israelite named Daniel (of future lions’ den fame). The outcome of the king’s pride was remarkable, but was unfortunately not duly noted by his young descendant and the current sovereign, King Belshazzar.

Say “CHEESE”…(click)

May I have the honor of introducing you to the Creator of vibrant rainbows, redwood forests, and the duckbill platypus? He is not only amazingly creative, terrifyingly awesome, but also incredibly humorous. (And He likes to see you smile....honest.)

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“[To the Church in Laodicea] “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”